In 1602, Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno sailed three ships along Alta California. He named some of his discoveries after his vessels: San Diego, Santa Barbara and Monterey. Three Carmelite friars who were aboard called this area near Point Lobos after our Lady of Mount Carmel. Over three hundred years later, this Carmelite monastery was established by Bishop Bernard MacGinley. Since 1925, this location on Monastery Beach has been the home to the Sisters of the Sea. They are a community of cloistered Catholic nuns.
